Nuclear medicine techniques (single photon emission computerized tomography, SPECT, and positron emission tomography, PET) represent molecular imaging tools, able to provide in vivo biomarkers of different diseases. To investigate brain tumours and metastases many different radiopharmaceuticals imaged by SPECT and PET can be used. In this review the main and most promising radiopharmaceuticals ...

SPECT is a rapidly changing field, and the past several years have produced new developments in both hardware technology and image-processing algorithms. At the component level there have been improvements in scintillators and photon transducers as well as a greater availability of semiconductor technology. These devices permit the fabrication of smaller and more compact systems that can be cus...

UNLABELLED The aim was to compare ventilation/perfusion SPECT lung scintigraphy (V/Q-SPECT) and computed tomography pulmonary angiography (CTPA) in patients with suspicion of pulmonary embolism (PE). MATERIAL AND METHODS This prospectively designed study included 53 patients with intermediate or high clinical probability of PE. A V/Q-SPECT and CTPA was performed on all patients. The V/Q-SPECT...

Molecular imaging (MI) comprises non-invasive monitoring of functional and spatiotemporal processes at molecular and cellular levels in humans and other living systems. In contrast to conventional diagnostic imaging, MI seeks to probe the molecular abnormalities that are the basis of disease rather than capture the images of the end effects of the molecular alterations. Imaging techniques such ...

UNLABELLED We are combining nuclear medicine with molecular biology to establish a sensitive, quantitative, and tomographic method with which to detect gene expression in pancreatic islet cells in vivo. Dual-isotope SPECT can be used to image multiple molecular events simultaneously, and coregistration of SPECT and CT images enables visualization of reporter gene expression in the correct anato...

UNLABELLED We report our experience with using integrated molecular and anatomic hybrid imaging to assess infection in patients who have a left-ventricular-assist device (LVAD). METHODS Thirteen (99m)Tc-exametazime-leukocyte planar and SPECT/CT scans were obtained for 8 consecutive patients who had an implanted LVAD. SPECT/CT was used to assess suspected device-related infections (n = 8) and ...

Molecular imaging is an attractive technology widely used in clinical practice that greatly enhances our understanding of the pathophysiology and treatment in central nervous system (CNS) diseases. It is a novel multidisciplinary technique that can be defined as real-time visualization, in vivo characterization and qualification of biological processes at the molecular and cellular level. It in...